Compensation & Benefits

There’s a new sheriff in town and payroll is on the agenda

01/26/2021

The administration has issued a bunch of executive orders and policy statements, ranging from pandemic relief to immigration reform. Here are highlights.

Offer intermittent leave as ADA accommodation

01/21/2021

When we talk about intermittent leave, we’re usually discussing the FMLA. But intermittent leave can also be appropriate in the context of the ADA, as a reasonable accommodation of an employee’s disability.

EEOC wellness rules would limit incentives

01/21/2021

Two new proposed EEOC rules would strictly limit the incentives employers could offer to encourage employees to participate in wellness programs. In order to comply with the ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, only minimal incentives would be allowed.

New coronavirus plan addresses HR issues

01/19/2021

Days before becoming president, Joe Biden outlined a $1.9 trillion emergency plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic and jump-start an economic recovery. Several plan elements affect HR.

DOL: Unused FFCRA leave need not be paid

01/07/2021

The Department of Labor has clarified how the new coronavirus relief law—formally known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021—affects paid sick leave and paid family leave that was authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act last year.

Coronavirus relief law adds more flexibility to flex funds

01/05/2021

The coronavirus relief legislation signed into law Dec. 27 grants some financial leeway to employees who participate in health and dependent care flexible spending account plans.

DOL rule updates tip-sharing rules for restaurant workers

12/30/2020

Waiters and bartenders can be required to share their tips with cooks, dishwashers and other back-of-the-house food service workers under a final rule issued Dec. 22 by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Prepare to start paying for home office costs

12/30/2020

During the initial migration to home offices, many employees gladly picked up the incidental costs of working remotely. That probably won’t last.

Relief bill causes paid family leave confusion

12/24/2020

The massive coronavirus relief and appropriations legislation that Congress passed Dec. 21 includes an extension of some features of the emergency paid sick leave and paid family leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. But the bill was drafted in a way that creates some confusion about how HR departments should treat that leave in 2021.

The impact of COVID on workers’ comp claims

12/21/2020

With fewer people in the workplace, employers have seen a big decrease in non-COVID workers’ compensation claims, down about 25–50% since early March.